Saturday 10 January 2015

大家好! Come and share your love&joy with these kids!

Jambo, friends and family!
(斯瓦希里语: 你们好吗?亲人朋友们!

Thanks to IVHQ, Ingrid Fan(Taiwan) & Ya Wang(SZ,China) are currently volunteering at Elshaddai Orphanage in Githurai, Kenya. Elshaddai is the humble little home for 25 kids, age from 6 months to 17 years old.
很感谢国际志愿者总部,让来自台湾的范秀明和中国深圳的王雅能够来到肯尼亚首都附近Githurai镇
的Elshaddai孤儿院做义工。 这是一个25个孩子(6个月大的Issac到17岁的Benjamin)共同生活的小家。

This is a courtyard shared with many other tenants in the plot, behind the blue doors are the toilet(hole on the ground) and shower room(bucket shower). On the left is the laundry area where there's a waste stream going though a pipe towards the drainage ditch beside the road. They can only do laundry when there's running water which is once a week if lucky. And on the right is the kitchen(back), storage for firewood and water. 
下面第一张照片中是一个与其他租户共享的庭院, 蓝色门背后是卫生间(水泥地上的窟窿)和洗澡间
(用塑料桶提水浇在身在)。左边是洗涤区,硬泥土地面,中间一条浅溪流过水管,直到远处墙角围栏
下与街道边污水沟相连!运气好的时候,水管一周有一次自来水,这时候大家抓紧洗涤早已堆积如山
的脏衣服。右侧边的两个门分别是厨房和储藏间(存放烧火用的木头、鸡笼和无数存水用的塑料桶)。

Besides almost no running water, there's no electricity here... so after sunset, since we only have two kerosine lamps (one in the kitchen and one in the living room), children eat their dinner in the dark courtyard with their hands.

Life is SO not easy, yet they are still giving thanks for every meal!

除了一周难得一次的自来水,这里没有电(资金原因,房租同样是大问题), 因此日落后院子里一片
漆黑。只有厨房和2楼客厅有煤油灯,晚上8、9点的时候,孩子们只有聚集在院子里摸黑吃晚餐。

生活如此艰难,他们依然在每顿饭前祷告感谢!
View from the steel stairs to courtyard

The pipe and waste stream

The front gate, they only rent 2 rooms upstairs and the kitchen,storage
    
Girls' room, every two kids share one bed.
Their living room, they do homework here.

View from upstairs to the courtyard.


Roman5:3-5: but we frejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering gproduces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hhope does not put us to shame, because God's love ihas been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.



Sunday 26 January 2014

Donation record (weekly update)

15 - 25 Jan, 2014

ItemsDateShillingUS $GB £
Schoolbag *1, pb+jam breakfast, shoe polisher14/01/2014974117
Eggs*3015/01/201430032
Toast 1500g*216/01/201433042
Schoolbag*216/01/201470085
Stamp17/01/20141,6201911
Omelet 18/01/20142,7903220
Eggs*6019/01/201466085
Jam and toast 19/01/201451364
Sausages21/01/201446753
toast21/02/201420021
taxi for books21/01/201460074
Postcard22/01/201428532
Eggs*3022/01/201433042
peanut butter choco23/01/201420521
toast23/01/201420021
Eric & Mary school fee25/01/201422,500260158
Total spent (9-25 Jan)53,560618378




9 - 13 Jan, 2014

ItemsDateShillingUS $GB £
World Map 世界地图09/01/201427032
Multiplication chart 数学计算表09/01/201427032
Good Habits chart 生活好习惯表09/01/201427032
Breakfast (jam, toast butter) 早餐( 牛油果酱吐司面包)09/01/201465985
Benjamin's school interview Benjamin同学寄宿学校的面试费11/01/20142,5002918
Bread 早餐面包11/01/201423032
Ham 早餐火腿片12/01/201440053
Mince beef lunch 周日午餐洋葱蘑菇炒牛肉12/01/20141,7562012
Puzzle games, toys, solar torches, drawig paper, dust pan, towels, pegs13/01/20146,2547244
Benjamin school acceptance gift (Bible)13/01/20141,3921610
Schoolbags (x8) and toys (skipping rope, cars, dolls, ball)13/01/20146,8857948
Total20,886241146

click to enlarge


Friday 17 January 2014

Benjamin写给大家的信:A letter from Benjamin

Our troublemaker Benjamin has passed the interview for a boarding school 80km away from Elshaddai Orphanage last Saturday, on 11 Jan. Hooray! We all feel so thrilled for him that in this term he'd be able to focus more on study, though John the director of Elshaddai would be losing such an excellent helper!
This is a letter Benjamin wrote to everyone who cares about him, about Elshaddai:

我们的捣蛋鬼Benjamin上周六通过了距离Elshaddai孤儿院80公里的寄宿学校面试。噢耶!我们都为他感到无比兴奋,因为他终于可以更专心学习了!(虽然孤儿院院长兼牧师John会因此失去一个得力助手) 下面是Benjamin写给大家的信:

I am Benjamin. I am 16 years old.
I am an orphan and I stay at Elshaddai children's home.
I am happy to stay at Elshaddai because my life have changed since i came at Elshaddai.
I love my director John and teachers. I want to congratulate them and may God give them long life to stay. May God bless all the volunteers who have ever come at Elshaddai and also those who plan to come at our home, Elshaddai.
Also I want to greet my mzungu mama Cara at a place called Colorado.
When i grow up, i would like to be an army and i would help other people and needy children.
May God bless each and every person.

我是Benjamin,今年16岁。
我是Elshaddai儿童之家的一名孤儿。
来到Elshaddai之后我很开心因为我的生命从此改变了!
我很爱John和其他老师。想要恭喜他们,并希望神能够赐给他们长寿。也希望神能祝福所有曾来过和计划要来这里的志愿者。
另外,我也想借此机会问候我的Mzungu妈妈(Mzungu是肯尼亚人对外国人统称) Cara,她来自美国科罗拉多。
我希望长大后能够参军,并能够帮助其他人和有需要的儿童。
愿神保佑每一个人!

Benjamin with the toy he made, what a genius!

Wednesday 15 January 2014

家庭成员介绍:Elshaddai family members

It is such a priviledge to get to know these smart and sensitive kids. We'll try our best to introduce them to you!
能够认识并了解这一群聪慧敏感的孩子们真是一件值得庆幸的事,我们将尽力让大家了解他们!

Benjamin 16 years old
Benjamin has proved his talents in construction and making toys(out of steel wires/wood), he himself added that he's very good at feeding small animals...
Benjamin擅长建造(木平台和卖水果的棚子)和制作玩具,他曾说自己也很爱饲养小动物。图为他在阅读我们送的圣经哦!


Eric 15 years old


Big Eric (we have two Eric) is also a handy boy! Although he doesn't talk much, we know he has a kind heart when we saw him taking care of mtotos (baby in Swahili) and kissing them with eyes full of love!

大Eric (我们有大小两个Eric) 也是个手巧的男孩!虽然他不怎么说话,但我们从他照顾小宝宝和充满爱意地亲吻他们的时候,看到了他有一颗友爱的心!

















Lucy 15 years old (will add photo soon)

Mary 14 years old

























Susan 13 years old

























Peter 13 years old






































Eric 12 years old

























Pauline 11 years old

























Fatema 11 years old (right)


Martin 11 years old 

























Phoebe 10 years old



















Alex 10 years old (left)



















Stella 10 years old

























Joan 10 years old(left)

Mary 9 years old






































Rachel 8 years old (second from the right)

Nelson 8

























Ian 8 years old

























Niva 8 years old (second from the left)

Tabitha 6 (right)

























Flora 6 years old

























Kennedy 4 years old






































Antony 4 years old